Relegation

[Andy S]

None of the teams tipped for relegation looked like they might be up for the drop on match of the day last night.so has the prem moved up a notch without Norwich and Watford. So how many points will we need this season to stay up?
It's my guess we might need the full 40

[Rupert]

I thought Forest looked pretty clueless up front. This may just be their new squad needing time to gel, but as we know that means playing catch up and that is not easy. Bournemouth looked comfortable, but was that more Villa being poor? We looked good, we need to carry this standard into matches against less illustrious opposition. Southampton are obvious underachievers on day one, and Everton did not look too clever either.

I would put 40 points as the minimum target regardless of how the rest of the table looks. At least until the mathematical safety target drops below it.

[AJW48361]

You can't Judge a season on one weekend of Football.

[Andy S]

You can't but that is what predictions are about

[FFC In Oz]

You can't Judge a season on one weekend of Football.

Bingo.

A lot can happen over the course of a season. 

Strong start for us though, I was watching with a couple of neutral mates here and they thought we were worthy of all 3 points.

If that sets the benchmark for our level of performance it will be an exciting season.

[Logicalman]

None of the teams tipped for relegation looked like they might be up for the drop on match of the day last night.so has the prem moved up a notch without Norwich and Watford. So how many points will we need this season to stay up?
It's my guess we might need the full 40

Either that or the prem dropped a notch en bloc for the first weekend.

As said, one match doesn't really tell us too much (even about our own chances), so give it a few weeks and then we can see how the land lies when those teams like us have played both upper and lower Prem teams, though we did look good yesterday!  :dft011:

[rebel]

I thought Forest looked pretty clueless up front. This may just be their new squad needing time to gel, but as we know that means playing catch up and that is not easy. Bournemouth looked comfortable, but was that more Villa being poor? We looked good, we need to carry this standard into matches against less illustrious opposition. Southampton are obvious underachievers on day one, and Everton did not look too clever either.

I would put 40 points as the minimum target regardless of how the rest of the table looks. At least until the mathematical safety target drops below it.

We need to perform like this against every team, but there is room for improvement, the standard needs to be in the players DNA every match. You saw a team spirit, backing each other up.

[MartyFFC]

Forest were abysmal

[Somerset Fulham]

I'm another who watched Forest yesterday and if Newcastle weren't so toothless up front they would have had an absolute bucketful, I would go as far to say that it was probably the worst Premier League performance I have ever seen. Cooper has a hell of a lot of work to do there. 

I also have an inkling that the FA will approach Cooper after the World Cup, thats when the arse will really fall out of Forest.

[Somerset Fulham]

As for us? Who knows.

Play like that every week and we'll be in Europe next season.  That obviously isn't going to happen, but we have shown in that one game that we do have enough about us to make it work this time around.  We are going to need luck on the injury and suspension front though.

[Hugh Gentry]

Forest were abysmal

The spine of their team was Worrall, Colback and surridge, won't cut it.

[H4usuallysitting]

Wait until the end of January

[hovewhite]

If we replicate that performance effort every game we will be fine.

[toshes mate]

Predictions are fine for those who want to make them and forty points has mostly guaranteed safety for those who survive in the PL but what is always a good idea is to enjoy every moment of the ride without always doubting you'll get to the finish in one piece and in good shape.   This is 2022/23 PL season and no one has ever been here before unless you believe in Twilight Zones.  All who played for us on Saturday looked the business and that will hopefully encourage the back room staff to add strength where we need it more effectively than they could have achieved prior to that match.  Momentum is a wonderful force as the stronger it gets the harder it is to stop.

[FFC1987]

At the end of the day, all we can do is build on a great performance and good albeit slightly unlucky result. (Still great but a win was so close). We go to Wolves and beat them, all of a sudden we have starting season momentum and the calibre of player we might entice goes up too.

That said, 40 points should always be the aim.

[SP]

A predictable training match for City against Bournmouth but they mentioned Solanke has picked up an ankle injury which seriously limits their attacking options.

[Tabby]

Everton and Villa looked poor coming up against eachother. Neither look solid at the back, and they're wasteful going forward.

We can dream that Manchester United get relegated, but I think it is unlikely.

[filham]

Early signs are that relegation is going to be one hell of a dog fight with a lot of close battles similar to our match with Wolves yesterday.There is likely to be a lot of six pointers.

At this early stage favourites for the drop could be said to be Man.U., that sums up the situation.

[TheCeiling]

Early signs are that relegation is going to be one hell of a dog fight with a lot of close battles similar to our match with Wolves yesterday.There is likely to be a lot of six pointers.

Agreed. So far it seems it's going to be very tight down there at the bottom 10 table.

Until proved otherwise, Villa, Everton, Bournemouth, Leicester, Southampton and Forest look like the relegation candidates (and I'll add us to this mix because at our status we'll have to prove every week we are here to stay, though we're looking promising so far!)

Next match against Brentford is going to be a huge huge one. 5 points off 3 first games would be such a boost for the season.

[FFC1987]

I feel like two clubs are going to start drafting away slightly. I'd hazard a guess Bournemouth will be one, my worry is its likely, either us/Forest/Saints or Everton. Today will be interesting though. Forest win and I'll start to sweat somewhat! Picking up points haven't not really settled the squad yet is always alarming.